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Franklin expedition: Will we ever know what happened?
BBC ^ | September 8, 2011 | Kate Dailey

Posted on 09/08/2011 8:49:19 PM PDT by decimon

Canadian explorers have drawn a blank in the latest hunt for the remains of Captain Sir John Franklin's fatal expedition, 160 years after he took his crew of 129 men deep into the Arctic.

In 1845, Capt Franklin, an officer in the British Royal Navy, took two ships and 129 men towards the Northwest Territories in an attempt to map the Northwest Passage, a route that would allow sailors to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific via the icy Arctic circle.

Stocked with provisions that could last for seven years, and outfitted with the latest technology and experienced men, the two ships - the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror - were some of the biggest, strongest, vessels ever to make the journey.

But the men vanished into the frozen Arctic, leaving a few clues but no explanation as to what went wrong.

The first search party set off in 1848 and searches involving teams from Canada, the UK, and the US have continued ever since. Last week, representatives from Parks Canada announced the results from their search this summer, which proved unsuccessful.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: 1845; 1848; arctic; arcticexploration; canada; exploration; franklinexpedition; godsgravesglyphs; greatwhitenorth; hmserebus; hmsterror; johnfranklin; northwestpassage; northwestterritories; parkscanada; sirjohnfranklin; unitedkingdom
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1 posted on 09/08/2011 8:49:23 PM PDT by decimon
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To: SunkenCiv

Polar apposites ping.

Another search, another bupkis.


2 posted on 09/08/2011 8:51:25 PM PDT by decimon
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To: decimon

My mom told me that the local Inuit wanted to help, but were scared off by the Franklin men acting very irrational.


3 posted on 09/08/2011 8:55:46 PM PDT by Jonty30
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To: decimon
” Last week, representatives from Parks Canada announced the results from their search this summer, which proved unsuccessful.”

I'll bet no survivors were found.

4 posted on 09/08/2011 8:57:44 PM PDT by HereInTheHeartland (I love how the FR spellchecker doesn't recognize the word "Obama")
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To: decimon

I’ve read they were blocked in by the ice, so they set up a base with their seven years worth of provisions. They apparently came in contact with some indigenous creatures- perhaps polar bears- and the resultant offspring are what we now call “Yeti” or “Bigfoot”


5 posted on 09/08/2011 9:01:48 PM PDT by Krankor
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To: HereInTheHeartland
” Last week, representatives from Parks Canada announced the results from their search this summer, which proved unsuccessful.”

I'll bet no survivors were found.

No current survivors, at any rate.

6 posted on 09/08/2011 9:03:23 PM PDT by decimon
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To: Jonty30
My mom told me that the local Inuit wanted to help, but were scared off by the Franklin men acting very irrational.

Maybe from the lead. Could be.

7 posted on 09/08/2011 9:04:59 PM PDT by decimon
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To: decimon
For a brilliant piece of writing on the subject, highly recommend Dan Simmons' The Terror

One of his best, IMHO

8 posted on 09/08/2011 9:08:38 PM PDT by Noumenon (The only 'NO' a liberal understands is the one that arrives at muzzle velocity.)
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To: decimon

Dan Simmons wrote a great historical fiction on the Franklin Expedition called “The Terror.” It was an excellent read.


9 posted on 09/08/2011 9:09:45 PM PDT by BuckeyeTexan (Man is not free unless government is limited. ~Ronald Reagan)
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To: Jonty30
...but were scared off by the Franklin men acting very irrational.

From the lead poisoning? (Tin cans of food were soldered/sealed with lead) Perhaps that grain mold related to LSD?

I saw one documentary on a visit to one known site from one of the attempts to find a Northwest Passage. Each succeeding expedition ran into ice earlier than the previous one.

Any way, they were shocked to find that the first of two corpses they were allowed to disinter for autopsy had already been autopsied - apparently by the ship's doctor. Things just didn't look right on the x-ray, the organs having been dumped randomly back into the body.

10 posted on 09/08/2011 9:10:19 PM PDT by Calvin Locke
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To: Calvin Locke
Provisioning in the old days was much more of a problem then it is now. Spoilage of the food and deficiency of various nutrients was pretty common. People often had no concept of where and how to find additional food in an environment alien to them, even if it was there in front of them.
11 posted on 09/08/2011 9:42:43 PM PDT by dog breath
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To: kalee

placemarker


12 posted on 09/08/2011 9:45:39 PM PDT by kalee (The offenses we give, we write in the dust; Those we take, we engrave in marble. J Huett 1658)
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To: dog breath
People often had no concept of where and how to find additional food in an environment alien to them, even if it was there in front of them.

That is even more the case today - Most folks couldn't survive in their current environment - the one they are familiar with - without a grocery store...

13 posted on 09/08/2011 9:52:01 PM PDT by roamer_1 (Globalism is just socialism in a business suit.)
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To: decimon

Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!


14 posted on 09/08/2011 9:53:06 PM PDT by Aqua225 (Realist)
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To: Noumenon

After reading this book I went on a Dan Simmons tear for a couple of months. Good times. I just picked up “Black Hills” at the library today.


15 posted on 09/08/2011 10:34:33 PM PDT by Zauber
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To: decimon

The wrecks are out there, make no mistake.

HMS Breadalbane was discovered in ‘81 and HMS Investigator just last year. The Arctic waters preserve wooden ships amazingly well (no shipworms that far north).


16 posted on 09/08/2011 10:45:56 PM PDT by sinanju
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To: decimon

I saw a documentary about this. The waters froze them in for a couple of years, and the canned food was a new thing and contained lead I think it was that made them sick.


17 posted on 09/08/2011 10:47:15 PM PDT by libbylu (Game On!)
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To: decimon

Maybe they found proof for the Ancient Aliens and were not supposed to be found.

Yet.


18 posted on 09/08/2011 11:57:15 PM PDT by Dryman (Define Natural Born Citizen)
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To: libbylu; decimon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXYKmZNcZxs
James Taylor - Frozen Man


19 posted on 09/09/2011 12:48:34 AM PDT by Liberty Valance (Keep a simple manner for a happy life :o)
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To: decimon

Just a guess mind you, but their ships got caught in the ice and were eventually crushed. The men probably were not as well equipped for the cold as they thought and their reported irrational behavior(Eskimos supposedly reported this)was a result of extreme cold causing them to die from foolish acts.


20 posted on 09/09/2011 9:17:15 AM PDT by calex59
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